However, the site also made a loss of £27 million following investments in the business - including the purchase of Asian online fashion dealer Shouke for £6.6 million, which was bought to help the British-born site crack the Chinese market, and £22.9 million spent on setting up automated distribution centres in the U.K. and US.

Net-A-Porter was set up by former fashion editor Natalie Massenet in 2000 after she realised there was no way of purchasing designer labels online. Luxury goods group Richemont, which previously held a 33 per cent stake in Net-A-Porter, acquired a majority stake of the company from a group of private shareholders for around £225 million in 2010, with Massenet remaining as executive chairman.

Massenet, who was recently appointed chairwoman of the British Fashion Council replacing Harold Tillman, was said to have personally made in the region of £50 million from the deal.